Cushion-tire



WL H. CONDRY.

- CUSHION man Patented Mar. 29, 1921.-

wwwa

o 0 ummm., 69M@ MARTIN E. CONDRY, F DETROT, l'v'C-IIGAN.

CUS-LON-TIRE.

Application filed February 18, 192).

Y shall have long life, which will be very re'- silient and which can beproduced at modcrate cost.

rlhis invention consists of a ring built up of solid secte s of cork,the ring; being substantially circular in cross-section and the sectorsof cork being held together by means of a plurality of endless rings ofresilient metal, preferably steel.

lt further consists in inclosing this ring of cork in a casing offlexible resilient material, such as rubber, which may constitute thewearing portion of the tire.

lt also consists in the details of construction illustrated in theaccompanying drawing and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is an elevation of a tire embodying myinvention, the structure being broken away progressively to show themanner of building it. Fig. 2 is a cross section of the tire shown inFig. 1 mounted on a rim. Figs. 3 and 4 are similar sections of modiiedforms of tires. Fig. 5 is a central longitudinal section of a portion oftire parallel to the plane of Fig. 1 on a smaller scale. Figs. and 7 arediagrams on small scale illustrating the methods of inserting springs.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the severalviews.

Ilhe several tires shown in the drawings are built up of disks l ofcork, preferably circular, with their sides tapering toward a commoncenter. These sectors are perforated to receive the rods 2, preferablyof spring' steel, on which they are strung and very iirmly compressed soas to leave short ends of the rods projecting from the ends of thestackV of segments. rlhe ends ofthe rods are then welded together afterwhich the segments are released to thereupon return to their originalthickness and in doing so slip together over the welded portions of therods and complete the ring.

At regular intervals along the outer por Specification of LettersPatent.

Serial No. 358,419.

tion of the tire theradial holes 3 Vare formed in the outer face of thecork to receive the springs which snugly fit these holes when insertedand bind therein when compressed. This series of holes may be in astraight line as shown in Fig. G or staggered as shown in lr 'l' andtheir depth is preferably one half the thickness of the ring.

rlhe wear of the roadway is taken by a casing` whose shape oepends uponthe character of the rim on which the tire is mounted. ln 2 a splitmetal rim 5 is mounted on the felly 6 and this rim is a segment of acircle in cross section. The casing '-7 is shown thinner between thecork center and the rim than at the tread. rllhe springs 4 exert anoutward pressure on the casing.

ln Fig. 3, the straight side rim 8 has flanges 9 which brace the edges1() of the casing 11. A band 12 of filling material, which may be .a lowgrade rubber or rubber substitute, is placed between the edges 10 of thecasing. Similarly, the band 13 holds out the ribs 14 of the casing 15into the grooves of the clencher rim 16, as shown in Fig. 4.

The casings and the filling` strips may be vulcanized together at atemperature which does not injuriously affect the cork. The casing shownin Fig'. 2 may be formed into a. tube by vulcanizing together the edgesof av strip after the cork has been inserted. l have found that 1for athirty by three inch tire, four spring-steel rods 2, eachlive-sixteenths inch in diameter, are sullicient, but a larger orsmaller number may be used in other sizes. By positioning these rodsnear the outer surface of the ringof cork the disks comprising the ringrare held more firmly together at their edges, thus providing` for a verystill' ring. rlhe springs 4 are preferably three-quarter inch indiameter and spaced about two inches centers. rllhe tread of the casing`is preferably about five eight-hs inch thick, but thicker treads givelonger service.

The details and proportions of the parts may all be changed by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention asset forth in the following claims.

l claim 1. A resilient Vvehicle tire comprising a solid ring of cork anda casing constituting a wearing surface, said ring of cork beingr formedwith a series of radial holes in its outer surface of less depth thanthe thol-V said ring of cork Vhaving a series o'radal ness of the ring,and springs mounted 1h holes Whose depth s approximately one-half saidholes. the thickness of the ring, and eol springs l0 Y 2.Y A resilient'vehicle tire comprising seolmounted in said holes and exerting outwardtors of Cork constitutinga ring and springpressure on thel easing. Ysteel rings extending through the sectors co- Y axially of the tire, Lcasing for the cork, MARTIN H. CONDRY.

